The Manningtree Witches Review

The Manningtree Witches is a haunting tale of women and misogyny in early modern England. Set during the English Civil War, the unstable political climate is a mirror for the unstable social fabric of Manningtree. The story starts when a man comes to the town of Manningtree and starts proceedings against local women purported to be “witches” because someone in the town had a delirious fever dream in which they said something about “covens.” An unmarried and intelligent woman, Rebecca West, and her mother become targets for the new “anti-witch” fervor.

The narrative arc of this story very much reminded me of The Crucible. However, I found The Manningtree Witches to give its female characters much more depth. The Crucible centers around a male protagonist and the women in it are two-dimensional and fall into the Madonna/whore dichotomy. The Manningtree Witches is entirely female-driven and lets its women be complicated.

The writing style is poetic and beautiful and I really enjoyed both the style and the story arc.